The Shift Beneath The Skin
986 Words
The sun had spilled across Maplecross like honey that had melted, casting warmth over the Calders house. The town was a kind of place where everyone knew everyone, they’d even know the number of children born here.
Lyra Caelum
She wasn’t like others, Her hair was dark as midnight, her skin moon pale, her eyes were like piercing electric blue eyes , they were impossible to look away from,it held the kind of silence that made people forget their words. She moved with effortless grace, her curves a quiet celebration of strength and softness. Beauty like hers didn’t have to ask for attention, it owned it.
Lyra’s laughter rang out like an alarm clock while chasing Silas through the grasses,
“Silas” she called “ when did you become this fast?”
Silas looked back “maybe you’re just slow” he said with a mischievous smile on his face. They both laughed.
Soon Lyra stopped running and she bent towards the ground trying to catch her breathe, her chest hummed like a thread was being pulled out.
Her brother jogged back “ are you okay?” He asked
She forced a smile. “ yeah just a lil dizzy tho.”
But that wasn’t it, it was part of her trasnsformation.
She’d woken up this morning feeling taller and colder, not just in body, but in the mind as well. The strange mark, the faded 17 burned slowly but it happened for a while. She hadn’t told anyone especially Marianne, so she won’t get worried after their previous discussion.
And Especially not since Damon had left them 4 years ago without a goodbye.
The air in the house felt lighter without without him, Lyra never understood why he never liked her. He’d never raise a hand against her but his silence always cut deeper than his words.
She never asked why.
Sometimes, she swore his eyes flickered with fear when they landed on her.
Later that day at school, Maplecross High, locker dooors slammed, noises and footsteps by the hallway. Someone was playing a soft jazz on a trumpet in the music room, girls watched and whispered in the corners.
Lyra stood at her locker, fiddling with the combination lock when the hair on her neck stood firm.
That pull again
Strong. Familiar yet entirely new.
Two boys were standing just down by the hallway, different yet in perfect sync.
The taller one with dark auburn hair and eyes the color of storm-lit skies, was leaning against the wall like he owned it. Rhett Vale. Quiet. Cold. And completely unreadable.
“He’s pretty good looking and has a nice physique”, she said to herself without hesitation.
“Why am I just noticing you now?” Rhett said to himself with so much interest.
Beside him, the slightly shorter one, broader, scruffier, with warm hazel eyes and an easy smirk, Marek Thorne. Loud, confident, and too curious for his own good.
“He’s good looking as well”, she said to herself while she looked into her locker.
“Fineeee girlll”, “Marek said to himself with a cunning looking smile.
They’d been at Maplecross High for about two months now, new transfers….. But today was the first time they really looked at her. Not just looked but studied.
Their eyes met hers… and something happened.
A rush.
The hallway dimmed at the edges. Her skin tingled. Time slowed, just for a breath — and then it snapped back.
She tore her gaze away.
What the hell was that? Everything happened in a second but it felt like five minutes…..
In Biology class,, the boys sat two rows behind her. Normally, they sat at the back, uninterested. Today, they leaned in. Watching her closely.
Whispers flew around the class.
“She looks different today.”
“Did she dye her eyes?”
“Her skin’s glowing”
“…or maybe she’s sick.”
No one noticed the subtle shifts, but Lyra did.
The lights above her flickered when her fingers brushed the textbook. Her glass water bottle had a thin c***k that hadn’t been there yesterday. Her pulse throbbed in her fingertips like she was holding something in.
The boys decided to play a trick on her because they could feel the energy that surrounds her.
“There’s just something about her, don’t know why we’re just observing her now”, Rhett said.
During lunch, she sat alone in the canteen area and they came to her.
“Mind if we join you?” Marek’s voice was casual, but his eyes gleamed with interest.
Lyra nodded slowly. Rhett sat silently beside her, but she could feel him watching. She could feel him like as if he were inside her.
“You’re… different today,” Marek said bluntly. “Did something happen? Or are you sick?”
Lyra raised an eyebrow. “You’re not exactly subtle, are you?”
“Not really,” he grinned. “But seriously. You feel… charged. Like static.”
Rhett’s voice was smooth and low. “Electric” “ there’s this energy all around you”.
There was a pause and for a second, she saw it. A flicker behind Marek’s eyes, like a golden flame. And Rhett’s eyes… too sharp. Too ancient. Too cold.
They weren’t normal.
And something inside her, something waking, recognized them. She felt them.
She suddenly stood up and left them, they boys both looked at each other, thinking about what they said wrong.
“Well we’ll postpone the trick”, Marek said without shilly shallying.
Back at home, that night, she stood by her window, staring outside and then at the moon.
Her mark was glowing faintly
She felt it, they knew something about her and she needed to know what and why she recognized and felt them.
Something was coming and
She was the center of it.
- Writer
